Beef and dumplings! Yes!

1- 3 pound pot roast.
4 large carrots, diced
2 large onions, cubed
1-12 ounce bag of frozen peas
1-4 pack of cheap biscuits
1/2 cup flour
3 tablespoons butter
water
2 cups flour
salt and pepper

In a slow cooker or the oven cook your pot roast as you normally would with the carrots and onions.   I usually cook it at 350 for about an hour. And set aside.  In a large pot, melt the butter to an almost brown state...not burnt, and of the half cup of flour, add at least 3 tablespoons and stir to make a paste.  I add salt and pepper too.  Then add water a little at a time to make a great gravy for your "beef and dumplings".  Go back to your beef and shred it to pieces.  Pour your beef and carrots and onions into the pot with the gravy.  Leave it on warm.  Now, take the biscuits and roll them out flat in the flour and then, using a pizza cutter or a very sharp knife, cut into strips about 1/2 to 1 inch wide.  Turn on your beef mixture and bring it to a boil and add the peas (I add chopped up mushrooms as well) and drop a couple at a time the biscuit strips.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until the dumplings puff up and cook.  Remove from heat and let it sit for about 15 minutes.  Serve in a warm large bowl.

 

Cubed Steak, potatoes, beets.

Well this is easy.  Pan fry the cubed steaks coated with salt, pepper and flour.  Leave bits and pieces in the frying pan and add some flour and water and make a gravy.  Cube your potatoes.  In a separate pan, using a little oil and butter, fry the potatoes for a "home fries" dish.  Lastly, heat up your beets in a pot with the liquid from the can and some apple cider vinegar.  Serve as 3 separate parts of a meal.  No need for casseroles tonight.

Shrimp, pasta shells, zucchini, bell peppers.

Whew!
Okay.  I am not sure that any of these items really go well together.  I am going to give it my best shot below.
So here's what I have come up with:
Shrimp,
pasta shells,
zucchini, diced
bell peppers, diced
parmesan cheese
2 crushed garlic cloves
flour
butter
red pepper flakes
salt
black pepper
2 cups milk
Boil pasta in salted water until al dente. In a large skillet, stir fry your diced bell peppers and zucchini just enough to "crisp" the edges.  Remove from pan and set aside.  In your skillet, add 1 tablespoon of butter and saute your crushed garlic.  Add two more tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons flour.  Stir to make a paste.  Slowly add the 2 cups milk and 1 cup parmesan cheese.  Add your vegetables and pasta and lower your heat to warm.
In a separate skillet, place your shrimp toss with parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste.  This should take only a couple of minutes.  Be careful on the red pepper flakes because too much will ruin the meal.  Serve shrimp on top of the pasta.

Polska Kielbasa Sausage, pasta, frozen veggies-several different ones

Wide Noodle Pasta

Polska Kielbasa Sausage

Steamers with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and cheese sauce x 2

Velveeta cheese 1/2 block

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

Boil your noodles and set aside.

Slice up the sausage into diagonal 1/4 inch slices.  In a frying pan, pan fry the sausage till there is a crispy outside edge.  It adds flavor.

In a separate pot, melt your butter and slowly whisk in the flour to form a paste.  Slowly add milk to make a thick sauce.  Melt in the Velveeta cheese.  If you like a thinner sauce, feel free to add more milk.

In your microwave cook the steamers as directed on the package.

Mix your steamers into the cheese sauce.  Toss in the noodles and make sure that your noodles are completely covered with your sauce and mixed well with the veggies.  Add more if you like.  I like lots of veggies.  Then when it is all well blended, toss in the cooked sausage pieces.  Serve!

I know it doesn't sound sexy or gourmet or even "wonderful".  But trust me it's good.

Second Menu

Wide Noodle Pasta

Polska Kielbasa Sausage

Frozen peas and carrots

Campbell's french onion soup, 2 large cans

Red pepper flakes (to taste)

Mozzarella cheese, finely shredded

Boil your noodles.  The last five minutes of cooking, add your frozen peas and carrots.  Immediately drain after al dente and set aside.  Fry up your sausage in slices in a hot pan.  In the pot with your noodles, peas and carrots add your onion soup and a 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and bring to a boil.  At the very end add the sausage.  When serving in a bowl, sprinkle with the finely shredded Mozzarella cheese.  

Canned Tuna, Carrots, Potatoes, Cheese, Almonds

Whew!!!  This one was hard.  Of course I had in mind when I saw tuna the traditional tuna casserole.  But with no noodles, I had no choice but to come up with something else.  I did find out that she does have so frozen peas as well.  And so, the following was born:

Tuna Au Gratin

8 large potatoes
2 cans tuna in water
1 bag frozen peas
2 large carrots diced
4 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
4 cups milk

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Slice the large potatoes into 1/4 inch slices and add the two cans of tuna by tossing together with the peas and the diced carrots.  Make 2 layers of potatoes first in a buttered deep large casserole dish.  This part doesn't have to be layered but they can be as long as you make sure that the tuna is dispersed nicely among the vegetables.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Set aside.
In a pot on the stove, melt butter and slowly stir in the flour, salt, and pepper over medium heat, whisking CONSTANTLY.  DO NOT STOP OR YOU WILL GET LUMPS IN YOUR SAUCE.  Add milk a cup at a time until sauce is smooth and silky.  When it has thickened add in three and a half cups of the finely shredded cheddar cheese.  Continue to stir until cheese is completely melted.  This should be about a minute.  Remove from heat immediately.  Pour over the casserole dish filled with your potatoes, tuna, peas and carrots.
Cover with tin foil and bake for 1 and a half hours. (90 minutes).  Just before moving this from the oven, in a frying pan on the stove, toast your slivered almonds.  (I would add some seasoning like garlic salt, or cayenne pepper,)  When the casserole comes out of the oven, remove tin foil and top with the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese.  Bake another 10 minutes to form a top to the casserole.  When you remove it from the oven for the last time, sprinkle with the slivered almonds and serve.

Chicken Breast Fillet, Asparagus, Stove Top Stuffing, Carrots, Mushrooms

4 Chicken Breast Fillet's butterflied (lay on a flat surface and slice horizontally but not all the way through)
2 boxes stove top stuffing mix
Asparagus,
Carrots
Mushrooms
Honey,
Pecans
Salt and pepper to taste
Butter.
4 slices swiss cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 soup can of milk
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar.

Okay so here goes:
Take your butterflied chicken breast fillets and season them liberally with salt and pepper.  Set aside. Take your fresh asparagus and break them where they break on their own.  If you don't know what I am talking about, here is a video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hx6rNViqbs   Set aside.
In a frying pan, melt 3 tablespoons butter, and saute your mushrooms.  (DO NOT ADD SALT)
Take 6 asparagus spears and place them on the one side of your butterflied chicken breast fillets.  Top with mushrooms.  Place a slice of swiss cheese (or other white cheese) over the top of the asparagus and mushroom filling.  You may want to "seal" these fillets together with toothpicks, but I just do things carefully.  In your frying pan, place your fillets and pan fry them partially.  Making sure to get a good browning on the fillets edges.  Prepare your stove top stuffing.  Place in a 9x13 inch casserole dish, spreading evenly.  Now place your partially cooked chicken breast fillets on top of stuffing.  Cover with tin foil. (to prevent drying out)  Bake for 15 minutes or until your chicken reaches 165 degrees.  While this is baking, in a small pan, empty your cream of mushroom soup, worcestershire sauce, and balsamic vinegar and mix with 1/2 of a can of milk and heat through.
In a second small pan, slice on a diagonal your carrots in thin slices.  Add 2 tablespoons of butter, and saute the carrots until crisp tender.  Now add pecans and toast them just enough to bring out the nutty oils.  You will see the glistening sheen on them.  Now add 1 cup of honey and stir the whole mixture and serve as an amazing side dish.
To serve your main dish, plate and pour over the top of each serving  your mushroom "sauce".  In this dinner meal you get some decadence without much work.  It's easy and in spite of the prep time, requires no real expertise.   Enjoy!

Center Cut Pork Chops, potatoes, broccoli-cauliflower-carrot mix

Center cut pork chops
White potatoes, mashed
Bagged broccoli-cauliflower-carrots
Jiffy corn bread mix
Garlic Salt
Butter
Milk (for potatoes)
30 Wheat Ritz Crackers, ground
1 tablespoon Sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Milk
1 cup Flour

In a small bowl, mix together flour and wheat Ritz Crackers, salt and pepper and sugar. Set aside.  In a second bowl, mix milk and eggs.  Dip pork chops into the egg-milk mixture and then dredge them in the flour and wheat Ritz Cracker mixture.  Place on baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for about 30 to 45 minutes or until the internal temp is 145 degrees.
While this is cooking, peel, cube and boil potatoes. In the pot, add milk, butter, garlic salt, (you can also add some sour cream and chives here and some cream cheese--it's a taste thing)
Steam your veggies and top with cheese if you want to.
Make your Jiffy corn bread according to the directions.
Serve!!!